Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook and four Huskers met the media on Thursday afternoon to discuss the upcoming 2013 season.

Cook answered questions for nearly one-half hour, before seniors Kelsey Robinson and Hayley Thramer and freshmen Kelly Hunter and Amber Rolfzen took turns at the podium. The team then posed for its team photo at the NU Coliseum.

The Huskers boast a young squad in 2013, as Nebraska returns just seven players and welcomes 10 newcomers. Despite the new faces, Cook is pleased from what he has seen through the opening days of practice.

“We’re four days into it and the players are doing a great job with the things they can control,” Cook said. “That is their effort, their communication, their willingness to compete and to learn new things. It’s been a great first four days.”

Cook also discussed the first chance fans will have to see the renovated Bob Devaney Sports Center as the Huskers host the Red/White match on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. During the match, the current Husker team will take on Husker volleyball alumni.

“The Red/White game this year will be a little bit different,” Cook said. “In sticking with our theme of honoring the past and inventing the future, I have a team assembled that we will play against for a couple of games and then we may have a regular intrasquad after that. The team we will play will be Lauren Cook setting, Gina Mancuso and Jordan Larson as the outside hitters, Nancy Metcalf as the opposite, Brooke Delano and Jordan Wilberger Sauer as the middles and one of our liberos will be the libero on that team. The team will be coached by Maggie Griffin. We’re excited about it. We want to honor the past and we’ve invited alumni to come back that night as well. That will be the theme of that night. It will be a pretty cool night, we want to open the Devaney and make it special.”

Cook also commented on the strength of the Big Ten Conference and the challenge that lies ahead for the Huskers.

“The Big Ten this year is going to be really competitive,” Cook said. “Right now there are four teams ranked in the top 10 and seven in the top 25. I don’t need to read the rankings or hear what people think to know that, I know who is coming back and who has what. We have a big challenge in front of us, but it will be a great Big Ten. There will be a lot of matches and it’s going to be very competitive.”

The Huskers open the 2013 season at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic hosted by Saint Louis University. The Huskers will face Louisiana-Monroe on Friday, Aug. 30 at 4:30 p.m., and will take on Auburn and Saint Louis the following day at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

Tickets for the Huskers’ Red/White Match at the Devaney Center are still available through the Nebraska Ticket Office. Fans can visit Huskes.com or call 1-800-8BIGRED to secure their seats.